Beautiful Lie
by Twin Kats
Summary: AU // Cloud Strife is Rufus Shinra’s best assassin, so when a rebel group rises in Midgar he is sent to deal with it. Everything went according to plan; the blonde just didn’t expect the guilt afterward. // Cloti // character death
1. Cloud Strife

_**Summary: **__AU / Cloud Strife is Rufus Shinra's best assassin, so when a rebel group rises in Midgar he is sent to deal with it. Everything went according to plan; the blonde just didn't expect the guilt afterwards. / Cloti / character death_

_**Yo!**__ I have a few quick notes here. First of all __**I do not own this idea**__. In fact I'm just borrowing it from __**weatherwitch**__. You see, on YouTube I was browsing through some random videos where I found a lovely video. Instantly my heart was captured; I'm a sucker for angst and the video pretty much __**screamed**__ it to me, and then I realized the video was __**calling**__ to the fanfic writer in me._

_I __**couldn't**__ ignore the call. So I'm __**borrowing weatherwitch's storyline**__ for the video and forming a fanfic revolving around it. It's not __**exactly**__ like the story for the video; however the core events are the same._

_So, all credit goes to __**weatherwitch**__ and the video __**Beautiful Lie**__. I should have the __**link**__ up in my profile under one of the sections._

_Now read, review, and don't rant on it being not canon; this __**is**__ AU. I stated in the sum, didn't I?_

_TK  
__Twin Kats_

_**Beautiful Lie  
**__**Cloud Strife**_

_Lie awake in bed at night, thinking 'bout your life;  
__Do you want to be different (different)  
__Try to let go of the truth, the battles of your youth;  
_'_Cause this is just a game, it's a beautiful lie;_

_**Beautiful Lie**__ by 30 Seconds to Mars_

* * *

Reno shifted quickly out of the way of the bloodied blonde, letting him pass into Rufus Shinra's quarters. He had become a regular here lately, and Reno had heard the rumors that circulated around the Turks about him.

Cloud Strife; hired assassin who never failed a mission. Cold hearted, ruthless, and efficient; all the qualities the blonde showed and all required from his profession. He always appeared so calm and indifferent, even when he got orders that would make even the best Turks shudder.

Reno never wanted to be on the receiving end of his sword; none of the Turks did, so everyone stayed out of his way. The man only reported to Rufus anyway, and frankly Reno felt relieved at that.

Cloud Strife was not someone people wanted to be around for long and Reno was no exception.

* * *

Cloud pushed open the door with his clean gloved hand and stepped inside. He kicked the door shut the minute he was past the threshold and walked calmly over towards his employer.

"The mission?" Rufus Shinra questioned.

"Complete," Cloud replied bluntly. "The resistance has been successfully silenced."

"Good," Shinra murmured, placing a hand by his mouth; a pleased smile was already spreading across the lips. "There's nothing else needed now," the blonde man stated after a few minutes silence. "Go clean up and rest," Rufus waved one hand in dismissal.

"Yes sir," Cloud muttered, bowing his head slightly as he did so. Seconds later he turned and swiftly pulled the door open and left, the door swinging shut gently in his wake.

"Reno," Rufus called after pushing a button on his desk, "get me Tseng, will you?"

"You got it, boss," Reno's replied, voice slightly distorted over the speaker.

* * *

Cloud pulled himself under the flowing, steaming water from the shower, letting it wash away the blood from his hair and body. He had already tossed his clothes into a pan to soak; all that was left was cleansing his body of the blood upon it. Calmly the blonde scrubbed at his hair, tilting his face slightly, eyes closed, to let the water wash away the blood left there.

His eyes snapped open a second later, his left hand immediately moving to steady himself against the shower wall as his body shook heavily.

"Stupid," he cursed softly, flicking off the water and pulling himself from the shower the minute he was able to steady himself. The blonde toweled himself dry, pulling on a pair of dark, loose pants before calmly searching through random bottles and materia of this or that on the counter. He grasped something a second later, pocketing it before reaching for the towel again, this time rubbing at his hair as he left the bathroom.

Cloud dropped the towel on the floor, kicked over the pan that held his clothes (thus successfully dumping the red stained water outside) before snatching First Tsurugi and a warm, wet hand towel. The blonde quickly segmented his blade and began methodically cleaning away any blood that had remained. Once he was sure his sword was clean he put it back together and headed over towards the overturned pan.

Cloud pulled out his soaked clothes and moved towards the cleaning machine set up off-side to his room. He dumped them inside, along with detergent and a bit of bleach, before turning the thing on and walking away.

His normal routine now finished the blonde settled down to calmly flip through the channels on the TV. Doing this usually gave him a heads-up on what job Rufus wanted done next.

* * *

_Cloud calmly walked past the red haired Turk and entered the immaculate office. A blonde man dressed in white—Cloud immediately noted that he was Rufus Shinra—sat in a chair behind the desk._

"_What do you want?" Cloud questioned, tilting his head slightly in Rufus' direction._

"_Your services," Rufus replied. Cloud remained silent. "You do some jobs for me and I'll pay you in return."_

"_How much?"_

"_5000 gil," the blonde CEO said calmly._

"_Deal."_

* * *

Cloud was up within seconds, holding one of the thinner blades from First Tsurugi threateningly before the person who entered his domain.

"Whoa," the red head cried, backing up and hands in the air. "I come in peace, yo." Cloud lowered the blade slightly, recognizing the Turk almost immediately. "Boss wants you," the Turk stated, "I'm just the messenger."

Cloud lowered the blade and asked, "Another job?"

"How should I know?" the Turk shrugged. "Anythin' you do is kept quiet until it's done, yo."

"Hmph."

Cloud turned away from the Turk, calmly reconnecting the blade and grabbing some clothes hanging off the dresser. Within seconds Cloud had on a black, sleeveless turtleneck, his gloves, various belts, and his usual baggy black pants. He calmly reached over for the shoulder pad that connected the one sleeve he wore before turning back towards the Turk.

"I'll be there," Cloud told him and the Turk nodded, taking it as his cue to leave. As he was heading towards the door Cloud called, "Oh, and Reno? Knock next time."

Reno nodded and left the room swiftly. Cloud finished gathering the little things he needed, pocketing a cell phone as the last item, before leaving the room and locking the door.

* * *

The blonde entered Rufus' office, noting the wheelchair and sheet instantly.

"Gotten worse?" he asked his employer. Rufus Shinra didn't respond and Cloud didn't expect him to. "So," Cloud asked after a minute, "what do you need."

Rufus eyed him from beneath the sheet before saying, "Infiltrate and eliminate."

"Interesting," Cloud muttered and waited for Rufus to elaborate.

"In Midgar a rebel group has been gaining ground," Rufus stated, watching Cloud's expression.

"AVALANCHE," Cloud nodded. They were on the news earlier that day.

"Yes," the Shinra CEO replied. "They're gaining too much ground; people are beginning to question Shinra."

"You want me to get rid of them?"

"In a fashion yes."

The room was silent for a few minutes until Rufus spoke again.

"You are to infiltrate AVALANCHE, discover their plans, their leaders, and eliminate any threat they have to Shinra. I will require an occasional update on the situation. In return I'll pay you 10,000 gil upon the start and another 5000 once the job is completed. Do we have an accord?"

Cloud was silent for a minute, mentally assessing the pay and job before stepping forward.

In one smooth sweep the blonde bent down and said, "Mission accepted."

"Go then. The sooner they are dealt with the sooner you get paid."

Cloud rose and left.

'_Infiltrate and eliminate, huh?'_ the blonde thought somewhat amusedly. _'Not what I normally do but that won't stop me from completing the job.'_

After getting the payment and returning to his room to gather a few more items the blonde headed outside towards his bike. With a somewhat loving touch Cloud quickly geared the bike up, storing First Tsurugi within seconds, hopped on and started the engine. He pulled his goggles down over his mako eyes and left.

'_All I need is a story to start this ball rolling,'_ the blonde thought, methodically mapping out how to play this mission, _'and to get that story I need to see just what would appeal to them. One day of observation; next day start the infiltration. The rest will come together.'_

* * *

If there was one thing Cloud prided himself on it was his ability to effectively hide any ill-intentions and emotions; he usually didn't show much emotion anyway so it wasn't that hard, really. He also prided himself on his stealth abilities, however meager they were they still helped in missions where information gathering was key. The blonde usually didn't do such missions since his stealth level really wasn't all that great, but he did accept them on occasion to keep improving the lacking skill.

Cloud didn't really need the one day to figure out how to infiltrate AVALANCHE he discovered shortly after starting his observations. It was obvious on how he could get into their little group, and it in fact didn't require any elaborate story. All he had to be, the blonde reasoned, was what he was.

A hired mercenary (although he preferred assassin his profession was really that of a mercenary) that would take pretty much any job, and by judging on how protective some of the members of AVALANCHE were of the dark haired woman he could easily proffer his services as a bodyguard.

The next day the blonde 'officially' entered Midgar and found a form of hotel to stay at near the sector AVALANCHE was based in. Setting up his area of operations Cloud began to ask around for jobs within the next few hours. During the day the blonde had taken a few rather odd jobs here and there so as to build up some gil to use for the mission and not the gil Shinra provided, while still stating that though he could do them they weren't up his alley per se.

His profession _was_ a mercenary, and thus he was much more used to killing or protecting people. Unloading carts of food just weren't as appealing as his normal jobs.

Either way his advertising (and patience) paid off as by the end of the day one of the members of AVALANCHE, one of the more protective members of the group, approached him.

"Can I help you?" Cloud asked, only stopping after the man attempted to touch him. Cloud had instantly jerked away and pulled up First Tsurugi defensively.

"You the mercenary?" the dark skinned man questioned and Cloud's eyes narrowed.

"If I am?" he asked.

The member of AVALANCHE eyed him for a minute before saying, "Is there a place we can talk privately?" Cloud arched an eyebrow but nodded. He holstered First Tsurugi and gestured for the man to follow. As they headed towards the 'hotel' he was staying at. It was cheap as he was using gil he had scrounged from some of his kills during his work for Shinra instead of the pay Shinra gave him; the money he used now was purely for jobs like the one he was on.

Cloud calmly led the bulkier male up the stairs and into his hotel room, constantly keeping a watchful eye on him, something the man noticed.

"What is it you want," Cloud demanded once the door was shut and locked.

"Name's Barret," Barret replied.

"Cloud," the blonde offered calmly before bluntly asking, "What is it you want. I don't have time to waste."

"You the mercenary?" Barret questioned again.

"Why?" Cloud replied. "You got a job for me?" The blonde eyed the dark skinned man warily, Barret doing so in kind but he did not answer the question. "Listen, I don't have all day to waste; you either got a job for me or you don't. Which is it?"

"Why are you here in Midgar," Barret questioned.

Cloud stared at the man before calmly leaning against the dresser, un-holstering First Tsurugi and pulling apart the segments. He began to clean one of them, wiping away the monster blood it gained from his ride to Midgar.

"The last town had no jobs worth anythin'," Cloud stated bluntly. "I heard Midgar might have something worth offerin' so I decided to come here. I'm guessin' you wanted to know if I was a Shinra lackey, considering what's been reported and all."

Barret narrowed his eyes and questioned, "What do you know?"

Cloud looked up from his blade and stated, "I'm a mercenary; I make it my job to know if there's anythin' goin' on in the place I'm headin' to." Barret narrowed his eyes and Cloud added calmly, "You're not very discrete; I overheard you shouting about AVALANCHE when I came into the city. Now do you have a job for me or not?"

"You don't work for Shinra?" Barret asked suspiciously.

"If I did would I tell you?" Cloud questioned back and Barret stilled. "No, I don't," the blonde stated. "Haven't been hired by Shinra for years; I guess they didn't like the fact that I took a job that killed one of their SOLDIER's." Barret blinked in shock but Cloud offered no more information. "So are you goin' to continue skirting around answerin' my question or can we finally get to the topic at hand?"

"Yeah I got a job," Barret replied and Cloud calmly put the segment of First Tsurugi down and turned his full attention to the member of AVALANCHE.

"What is it?" the blonde questioned.

"I want you to protect Tifa," Barret stated.

"Who's Tifa?" Cloud questioned while calmly watching the man. Barret fished out a photo and handed it over. The blonde examined the imagine before asking, "How much?"

"Wha?"

"How much am I goin' to get out of this?" Cloud questioned. "And how long do you want her protected? How do you want her protected? Silently or openly?"

Barret blinked before saying, "1000 gil a week and bein' secretive would make her suspicious. Jes don' tell her who sent ya."

Cloud eyed Barret calmly before saying, "When and where do I start?"

"So you'll do it?!" Barret cried.

"Yes," Cloud replied.

"7th Heaven," Barret told him. "Start tomorrow."

"Deal," Cloud nodded and moved towards the door. A quick flick of his wrist and the door was unlocked; the blonde pulled it open and motioned for Barret to go.

The dark skinned man paused for a minute to say, "You can stay at the bar," and then left quickly. Cloud watched him until he disappeared down the stairs. The blonde shut the door and relocked it, heading over towards the dresser. Sedately Cloud leaned First Tsurugi against the dresser and pulled open a drawer. He pulled out a small, dark cell and flipped it open. His fingers moved across the keypad as his other hand rummaged through the sack that rested within the drawer.

Cloud pulled the phone to his ear and listened to it ring; the line picked up the minute the blonde grasped a flask.

Cloud spoke instantly, not waiting for the other to get a word in, "I'm in."

"Good."

"Update's will be slow," Cloud stated. "I'll be near too many and it'll blow my cover."

"What is your cover?"

Cloud replied instantly, "I came to Midgar after hearing it might have some jobs worth offering; previously I was in Kalm. I worked for Shinra once, several years ago, but haven't since because of that one contract."

"I see."

"You'll back it up?"

"Yes."

"Good; that's all I have for now," Cloud said bluntly.

"Very well; I expect an update as soon as you are able, understood?"

"Yes sir," Cloud replied and the line went dead. The blonde flipped the phone shut after wiping the call from the cell's memory. He set the phone down on the dresser and moved towards the bed, sitting so that he could view the darkening sky as he swallowed the drink inside the flask.

'_And so it begins…'_ the blonde thought with mild detachment.

* * *

_End Chapter._

_Please review; as I said before this idea is solely __**weatherwitch**__'s. It is based off of the storyline for the video __**Beautiful Lie**__. I highly suggest watching the video. The link will be in my profile._

_Review please!_

_TK  
__Twin Kats_


	2. Tifa Lockhart and Zack Fair

_**Beautiful Lie  
**__**Tifa Lockhart and Zack Fair**_

_It's a beautiful lie;  
__It's a perfect denial;  
__Such a beautiful lie to believe in;  
__So beautiful, beautiful lie makes me—_

_**Beautiful Lie**__ by 30 Seconds to Mars_

* * *

By the time noon rolled around on Cloud's third day in Midgar the blonde had placed his bag back on his bike, paid for the room, and started for the bar 7th Heaven. He rolled to a stop outside the bar's entrance and cut the engine. Sedately he grabbed his things, dismounted his bike, and entered the bar.

"Welcome to 7th Heaven," a woman called from behind the bar. Cloud recognized her as Tifa; as he sat down she asked, "Anything I can get you?"

"Something strong," Cloud stated, setting his bag down.

"Coming right up," Tifa replied, immediately beginning to mix a drink. She set it on the counter and watched as Cloud pulled the drink to himself. "Where you from?" she asked after a minute. "You don't look like you've been in Midgar that long."

"I haven't," Cloud murmured and took his drink.

"So?" Tifa tilted her head inquiringly.

"I'm a drifter," Cloud shrugged and put the drink down. "Don't have a home."

"What do you do?" Tifa questioned with a frown.

"I take any job if someone's offerin' to pay," the blonde stated.

"Like a jack of all trades?"

"Mercenary mostly."

"Ah."

Cloud calmly set down the finished drink and asked, "How much?"

"Fifty gil," Tifa replied and the blonde fished out the needed amount calmly.

"Here."

"Thanks," the young woman said with a smile as she took the money and bent down to store it. When she stood back up she noted Cloud hadn't left yet. "Is there something else you want?" she asked with a frown.

"Your name is Tifa, right?" Cloud queried.

"Tifa Lockhart," Tifa nodded warily. "Who are you?"

Cloud watched her for a minute, masking his mild surprise at the last name. He didn't recognize her that was for sure…and she obviously didn't recognize him so he put it out of mind and answered her question.

"I was sent here to protect you."

Tifa stilled slightly, a frown coming to her face.

"By whom?" she asked slowly.

Cloud replied instantly, "I'm not allowed to say; however my services where hired to protect you."

"From what?" Tifa's frown had grown.

"Threats?" Cloud asked with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"Barret," Tifa muttered with a wry smile before saying louder, "You can stay. Upstairs, last door on the left. Doesn't mean I trust you, though."

"I wouldn't expect you to," Cloud replied smoothly as he stood, scooping up his bag with the movement. "Upstairs, last door on the left, right?"

"Yes."

The blonde gave a short nod in reply and headed towards the stairs; he dodged out of the way suddenly as a black blur raced down the stairs and called, "Wedge called; I'll be back later!"

"Don't run down the stairs!" Tifa yelled after the blur. Cloud raised an eyebrow slightly before continuing his trek up the stairs and to the room the woman had designated.

Pushing the door open and setting his bag down Cloud surveyed the area calmly, noting the window, dresser, and small bed in the corner. He strode quickly towards the window and took in the meager view available; pushing it open he noted the drop from the window to the alley below and the height of the roof from the window calmly. He swung it shut after a second and turned around.

"Try anything," Tifa said from the doorway the minute Cloud turned around, "and you'll regret it." Cloud didn't reply; he merely stared at her blankly. Tifa shrugged off the blatant rudeness in favor of asking, "So, you got a name?"

Cloud remained silent and Tifa huffed in annoyance. She turned to leave as he spoke.

"Cloud."

"Cloud?" Tifa questioned, whirling back around. The man made no reply; instead he moved over and picked up his bag before dropping it onto the bed. Tifa's eyes narrowed slightly before she stormed from the room.

'_Tifa Lockhart,'_ Cloud mused as he began to pull out the few pairs of clothes he had, stuffing them into the drawer. _'She hasn't changed.'_ The mercenary snorted slightly and kicked his bag under the bed once he emptied it.

He crossed the space of the room, pulling the door open and stepping out into the hallway; he moved himself into a position where he could watch what she was doing and a small smirk graced his features.

'_Yes, she hasn't changed at all,'_ the young man thought, _'however I have.'_

Now all he had to do was gain her trust, something he obviously lacked at this very moment but he was sure he could remedy it if her reaction to his first name was any indicator.

'_It should be easy enough,'_ Cloud figured as he watched Tifa move slightly, _'you did know her once after all.'_ He frowned slightly. _'I can't let that get in the way; past affiliation or not if she pays a threat she goes. I cannot forget my mission…I'll just have to be careful.'_

Nodding his head slightly Cloud turned away and headed back towards his room to wait; it was only a matter of time before he got the information he needed.

…

When Zack stepped into the bar he was slightly surprised to see Tifa scrubbing at the glasses furiously.

"Tif?" the dark haired ex-SOLDIER questioned with a frown.

"You'd never hire a bodyguard for me, would you?" Tifa questioned without looking in his direction.

Zack threw on an affronted look as he exclaimed, "Of course not!" loudly. "Besides, you'd rip me a new one if I ever did," he amended and then frowned. "Why d'ya ask, though?"

"Barret hired a mercenary to protect me," Tifa growled and scrubbed at the glass in her hand harshly.

"Whoa, wait, what?" Zack blinked and sat down on one of the stools.

"Barret hired a mercenary," Tifa replied as she slammed a drink in front of the man.

"He _hired a mercenary_?" Zack cried incredulous and then added, "And don't take your anger out on the drinks! You're wasting good alcohol!" Tifa glared at him and the man gave her a weak smile and accepted the glass with a quick, "Never mind."

He sipped at the alcohol while watching Tifa go about her cleaning. After a few minutes of silence he asked, "So where is the mercenary?"

"He's rooming upstairs," Tifa replied and relaxed slightly.

"…why," Zack asked slowly.

"He's staying, Zack," Tifa stated. "Barret hired him."

"I don't get it," Zack frowned and shook his head. "_Why_ is he staying? You _are_ going to convince Barret to de-hire him or something, right?" Tifa gave him no response and Zack asked again, "Right, Tifa?" He watched as she stopped washing the counter and it was then that he saw it. Something was troubling her and worry began to gnaw at the ex-SOLDIER. He stood and quickly maneuvered around the bar as he asked, "Tifa? What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Tifa stated, shaking away her sudden stillness. "He's staying either way, Zack; the poor kid looks like he needs the money anyway." Zack frowned.

"I don't like that Tifa…" he said slowly.

"You'll confirm his story, and if he checks out he'll stay," Tifa stated and Zack reluctantly nodded.

"Alright."

"I'm still going to have a few words with Barret, though," the dark haired woman stated and Zack smiled slightly.

"I wouldn't expect it any other way," he replied, mentally adding _'And I wouldn't want to be in Barret's shoes anyway.' _"I'm going to go check him out either way."

"He's still upstairs," Tifa nodded and Zack thanked her as he headed up the stairs. Halfway up them Tifa called, "What did Wedge want anyway, Zack?"

"I'll tell you later!" Zack called back and Tifa sighed.

'_AVALANCHE business then,' _she thought.

* * *

Zack stopped outside the only free room in the bar, noting the closed door. With a small bit of trepidation he knocked on the door. It swung open seconds later revealing _glowing_ mako eyes and a familiar blonde hairstyle.

Zack immediately froze, shocked.

"What do you want?" the man asked, his voice not giving anything away and Zack forced himself to relax.

"You're the mercenary that was hired to protect Tif?" he asked.

"And if I am?" the man replied cautiously.

"Then I want you to answer me a few questions," Zack stated, eyes narrowing.

"Come in," the man said with a slight smirk, pulling the door open further and stepping aside. Zack warily stepped into the room, his eyes immediately darting around and taking in the few articles the man had sitting around. The man shut the door and headed over towards the bed where a sword was leaning.

"That's a nice sword," Zack muttered, surprised as the man picked it up.

"Isn't it?" the man replied calmly. "What questions do you have for me?" He grabbed the blade and cloth beside it; Zack supposed he interrupted the man as he was working on the blade.

"How long have you been in Midgar?" was the first thing Zack asked.

"Two days," the man replied calmly. "I came here because I heard there might be jobs worth something. Before that I was in Kalm; nothin' good was there and I heard a few rumors so I came to Midgar."

"Have you ever worked for Shinra?"

The man didn't raise his head as he asked, "So you're a part of AVALANCHE then?" Zack narrowed his eyes and quicker than the eye can see he had the blonde man up against the wall.

"What do you know," the ex-SOLDIER snarled.

"Only what your man kept yellin' 'bout," the man replied. "Not very discrete are you?" Zack shoved the man harder and with a small grunt the man stated, "I haven't worked for Shinra in years."

"You have previously?" Zack demanded.

"Yeah, but Shinra quit hirin' me after I got rid of one of their SOLDIER's," the man stated bluntly. "Don't think they liked that I got rid of the General."

"You killed _General Sephiroth_?!" Zack cried, shocked. The man took that as a cue to break free of Zack's hold. With a quick sweep of his legs the ex-SOLDIER was down on the ground.

"Did you know him or something?" the man asked with mild amusement. "Sorry if you did; no hard feelings though. It as merely a job and he was the target."

Zack didn't move from the floor, too much in shock.

"You gonna get up?" the man questioned. "I didn't knock you down that hard, did I?"

Zack pulled himself up slowly, turning to stare at the man.

"You killed Seph?" he asked again.

"I already answered that," the man stated, heading back towards his blade.

"You're the one who killed him," Zack repeated slowly. "My friend is dead because of you?"

"Like I said, no hard feelings—" the man jerked back, holding his jaw from where Zack had decked him.

"Yeah," Zack spat, "no hard feelings." The dark haired man eyed the mercenary for a second before asking, "You got a name?"

"Cloud," Cloud replied. "You?" he asked as he carefully stretched his jaw.

"Zack Fair, ex-SOLDIER First Class," Zack replied coldly. Cloud blinked slightly, not quite able to mask his surprise this time.

"Nice right hook," Cloud finally decided on saying.

"Thanks." Zack eyed him for a second before asking, "Your last name wouldn't happen to be Strife, would it?" Cloud didn't reply, instead feeling around inside his mouth with a slight wince. Zack shook his head, "Never mind," he muttered and left the room.

Cloud stopped inspecting his jaw the minute the ex-SOLDIER left.

"Zack is here, huh?" he muttered with a slight frown and then winced. He gingerly touched his jaw and glanced in the mirror, noting the slightly darkening skin.

'_Meet the same way we parted,'_ Cloud thought with detached humor and turned away from the mirror. _'How fitting.'_

He grabbed his sword from where it had landed on the floor when Zack pinned him to the wall and calmly went back to servicing it.

* * *

"_What the fuck, Spike?!" Zack yelled angrily. "What's going on with you?!"_

"_What's going on with me?!" Cloud yelled back. "What's going on with __**me?!**__ I should be asking you that! How can you condone what he's done?! HOW CAN YOU!?"_

"_Look, Spike, I don't condone what he did but you gotta look at it from my perspective!" Zack stated._

"_Your perspective?" Cloud asked, shocked._

"_Yes, my perspec—" Zack started._

"_Damn it Zack, he __**burned down Nibelheim**__!" Cloud yelled._

"_Well yeah but you don't—"_

"_He __**burned down my home**__ Zack! He killed my mother __**in front of me**__!"_

"_HE WAS ILL, Spike!" Zack cried._

"_That doesn't matter—I don't care if he was ill or not! He still did it!" Cloud snapped and backed away._

"_Spike—"_

"_No. I don't care," Cloud shook his head. "If you can brush it all under the rug like it's nothing then I don't want anything to do with you."_

"_I'm not—" Zack started but Cloud shook his head._

"_You're so—so—so caught up in these stupid dreams that things will be fine that you don't even notice how much your friends are hurting!"_

"_I don't notice—?!" Zack cried, incredulous. "I notice, Cloud! I notice!"_

"_You sure as hell don't act like it, asshole," Cloud growled. "Go ahead and keep licking the boots of that psycho and livi—" Cloud was cut off as Zack punched him straight in the jaw, knocking the teen onto his ass. Cloud held a hand to his jaw in shock._

"_He's not psychotic," Zack said coldly, "and I'm not licking anyone's boots. I thought we were friends, but obviously I was wrong. Now get out."_

_Cloud pulled himself up and growled, "Gladly," before turning and leaving the room._

_Two weeks later Sephiroth was released and Cloud left the Shinra Electric Company._

* * *

End chapter.

_**Thank you so much for the reviews!**_ _They made me so happy that I tried to get this written as quickly as I could. It posed a bit of trouble at first but I finally got it to a place where I wanted it. Thank you __**so much**__. All the positive responses made me smile, and the criticism some of you gave me I took to heart. Thank you._

_I do hope you like this chapter!_

_And thank you to **FinalFantasyFan** for the very positive, long, and helpful review. It made my day._

_TK  
__Twin Kats_


	3. Confronting the Past

_**Beautiful Lie  
**__**Confronting the Past**_

_So beautiful, beautiful lie makes me—it's time to forget about the past;  
__To wash away what happened last (happened last)  
__Hide behind an empty face; don't ask to much just say;  
_'_Cause this is just a game, it's a beautiful lie;_

_**Beautiful Lie**__ by 30 Seconds to Mars_

* * *

Cloud inspected First Tsurugi trying to ignore the yelling downstairs from Zack.

"_Tifa he can't stay here! That bastard's a murderer!"_

"_It's his __**job**__ Zack! Besides, he was hired to protect me!"_

"_So?! What's stopping him from breaking it off for a higher offer, huh?!"_

"Smart thinking, Zack…" Cloud mumbled as he ran a hand through his spiked hair. He glared up at it; sometimes it got annoying at how spiky his hair could get.

"_Damn it Zack! Why are you so against him staying now?!"_

Cloud chuckled slightly as the yelling stopped.

"Why indeed…"

"…_fine; he stays. But I don't like it, Tif!"_

Cloud sighed and tugged at his hair, a small frown pulling at his lips. He was skirting his job by staying up here, working on Tsurugi (the blade was clean and shining he'd been working so hard) and it wasn't like him.

"'Suppose it would've been easier if Zack wasn't 'round," he finally muttered and scowled.

'_You're a mercenary and assassin,'_ Cloud reminded himself, _'the past doesn't matter. It can't get in the way of the job—damn it I thought I was __**over**__ this!' _He cursed softly and then winced. _'Stupid,'_ Cloud thought bitterly as he stood and began to rummage through one drawer. _'Stupid, stupid, stupid…'_ Finally he grasped something and pulled it out. After quick flick of his thumb the blonde pocketed the thing.

He turned his gaze towards the door; it had fallen silent and had stayed silent to which Cloud was thankful. The noise had been interrupting his thought process too much. With Zack being a part of AVALANCHE he had to mentally reassess the situation to count for his and Zack's rather bitter past alongside his and Tifa's past as well. He had a skeleton of a plan already etched in his mind; attempting to flesh the plan out was too taxing with the yelling.

Finally Cloud grimaced and grabbed First Tsurugi. In a swift motion he had the blade holstered and was already heading towards the door.

'_Just get this over with; the past doesn't matter, not anymore, so there's no reason for you to be acting like this Strife,'_ he told himself sharply. He hesitated at the door but with a fierce mental shaking he pulled it open and headed down the stairs and into the bar.

He was _over_ what happened in Nibelheim. He was _over_ Zack's abrupt ending of their friendship. None of it _mattered_ anymore; he had a job and he'd damn well do it.

He wasn't Cloud Strife the weak little child. He wasn't Cloud Strife the emotionally challenged teen.

He was Cloud Strife the mercenary; best of the best. He was Cloud Strife the hired assassin; Rufus Shinra's personal killer.

He _grew up_ and left his past behind; that was the truth and nothing would change it.

Not Zack Fair, his ex-best friend, and most certainly not Tifa Lockhart, the girl he once had a crush on.

Nothing would change who he was now; nothing could.

* * *

Zack and Tifa had fallen into silence; neither willing to speak to the other. Instead they both went about their normal routine; Zack sitting in a shadowed corner looking over a map of Midgar with the most prominent Shinra controlled places highlighted and Tifa tending to the bar.

The normal routine was broken by Tifa's bodyguard Cloud coming down the stairs. Zack glared at him from his corner as Tifa asked, "Need anything, Cloud?"

Cloud almost hesitated before he said, "No, Tifa." Tifa frowned in response to that but Cloud ignored her and headed to another dark corner; he sat down and watched the bar with sharp eyes.

'_Something's bothering him,'_ Tifa thought before shaking her head. _'It's none of my business.'_

In the corner Cloud was trying to figure out how to exactly tell Tifa and Zack that he _was_ Cloud Strife (well, besides the name obviously) and that he had changed and grown up. It was a step in getting their trust, one he needed to take. If the past was revealed at a later date things would only go downhill; he needed to tell them so that he could finish his job. The only thing was, was that the risks in doing so might just ruin his cover.

There was always the chance that if Cloud told them they would immediately become more wary. Then again there was the chance that if he told them they would react favorably and he'd be on the road to gaining their trust.

A frown tugged at his lips and one hand came up to tug his blonde locks; he hadn't thought of Zack or Tifa being here, hadn't prepared for it. Sure Cloud knew the woman the men were so protective of was named Tifa but he didn't know she was Tifa _Lockhart_. He thought Tifa Lockhart had died when Nibelheim was burned to the ground, so he had one obstacle to get by with her. He could do it with a bit of careful maneuvering but now Zack had shown up into the picture and the whole situation changed.

His and Zack's rather rocky past and the abruptly ended friendship was an obstacle, one he had figured wouldn't be so hard but when he mentioned Sephiroth the ex-SOLDIER had reacted much like he did when he ended their friendship. Cloud knew that if the dark haired man knew he was his former friend things would most likely get worse; he did after all kill Sephiroth and it was apparent that Zack was still attached to the dead General.

'_Any action I take will lead to either path,'_ Cloud thought. _'They will either take the news favorably—or they won't and everything will fall apart.'_

Eyes narrowed slightly Cloud finally decided on letting them know but not outright saying it to their faces.

'_No…when a member of AVALANCHE or someone they're familiar with, a frequent bar attendee or something…that'll do.'_

Plan solidified in his mind Cloud sat back and watched the patrons enter and exit, his gaze flickering from Zack, Tifa, and anyone who entered.

* * *

It was nearing dark by the time someone entered the bar that Cloud could immediately categorized as AVALANCHE members; their familiarity to Tifa and apparent closeness to Zack was a dead giveaway.

The first person who entered was someone Tifa addressed as Wedge; Cloud figured it was the same Wedge Zack had run off to see. The blonde shifted slightly but kept hidden in the shadows, watching and waiting.

The second to enter the bar Zack greeted with a grin; the person was addressed as Jessie. Again Cloud shifted slightly but kept himself hidden from the others' view.

The third person to come in, about fifteen minutes after Jessie, had been called Biggs. Another ten minutes later Barret entered and immediately looked around the bar. Cloud figured he was searching for a sign of his person; he was doing a poor job of hiding it and it was apparent Tifa knew what he was looking for.

"Barret!" the irate woman called shortly after the man entered. Cloud watched as Barret greeted Tifa warmly only to be punched. "You jerk!"

"Tifa what's—" Barret started but Tifa interrupted.

"You hired me a bodyguard! You asshole! I don't need a bodyguard; I can take care of myself you know!"

"How d'ya know 'bout that?" Barret demanded. "He told?"

"No, he didn't," Tifa snapped and Barret seemed to relax slightly. "I'm letting him stay but I swear if you do something like this again—!"

"I was only lookin' out for ya!" Barret snapped and Zack stepped up to intervene.

"Right, we get that you're upset Tif," Zack said almost pleadingly, "but we need Barret right now. So _please_ stop it? Both of you?" Tifa huffed but complied.

"So where is he?" Barret demanded and Cloud shifted again, this time letting everyone see him.

"I'm right here," the blonde mercenary stated. "I'm guessin' everyone here is AVALANCHE," Cloud continued and as the three new people (to Cloud) started letting out shouts of protest he added, "It's rather obvious; I'm amazed Shinra hasn't been sendin' people out after you."

"Just who are you?" Jessie demanded.

"Name's Cloud Strife," Cloud stated clearly and watched Zack and Tifa's reactions.

Zack had stiffened, his eyes flickering slightly from internal conflict; Cloud knew that the ex-SOLDIER had his suspicions on Cloud being his ex-best friend Cloud or just someone else with the same name.

Tifa, Cloud noted, had completely stilled and her eyes had gone wide. Obviously she hadn't thought he was the little kid she once knew even though Cloud had seen her confused expression earlier.

Finally Zack seemed to reach a solution as his mako eyes began to become more prominent.

"You sonovabitch!" he snarled and within seconds had Cloud pinned to the wall. "You fucking piece of shit!"

"Get control of yourself, Zack," Cloud replied calmly.

"You're working for Shinra, aren't you, you asshole?!" Zack growled and shoved Cloud into the wall harder.

"_Fuck_," Cloud hissed as First Tsurugi was shoved into his lower back. Louder he grunted, "No, I'm not; I told you they haven't hired me in years; probably still pissed about me killin' one of their SOLDIER's."

That fact seemed to register in Zack's brain within seconds and Cloud found himself on the ground suddenly, out of breath.

"You killed him out of revenge, didn't you?!" Zack screamed.

"Fuck no!" Cloud shouted back, pulling himself up. He winced slightly; it felt as if Zack had broken or bruised a rib. "It was a job, you asshole! Sure I might've enjoyed it a bit more than I should've but what do you expect?! He killed my mother! IN FRONT OF ME!"

"He was _ill_!"

"Shinra declared him insane, Zack!" Cloud growled. "They declared him mentally unstable yet they let him go back to active duty anyway! _They_ _said he was insane!_ It just so happened that the guy who hired me didn't like the fact that Shinra let him work even though they _announced him mentally unstable!_" Cloud had to duck a second later as Zack's leg swept across the area where his head was.

Cloud forced himself to retreat behind the bar as Zack continued to try and hit him. Once he was safely away from his angry ex-best friend he said, almost coldly, "It's in the past now, Zack, and I've grown up enough to know that. I've grown up enough to accept the fact that he _murdered_ my mother and my home; I've grown up enough to accept that you cared more for a clinically insane man than for your own _hurting, grieving, friends_. I've grown up and accepted it and have moved on." Cloud paused to gather his breath and calm his warring emotions and thoughts before saying, "I'm not the Cloud Strife you knew; I've changed and that's the truth."

Zack had stopped moving; instead he glared at Cloud as he tried to steady his breathing.

"I'll be upstairs; you continue whatever it is you're getting at," Cloud said and then addressed Barret. "If you don't want me here after tonight I'll leave." Mako eyes swept the room quickly before he nodded his head and went up the stairs with a slight wince.

Zack definitely broke or bruised a rib or two.

* * *

Wincing and muttering curses under his breath Cloud shoved clothes and other miscellaneous items aside in search of a cure materia. As much as he'd like to force his ribs to heal naturally he couldn't afford to. In a sense he was in hostile territory—well Zack was hostile territory at any rate—and forgoing getting his ribs patched up quickly would only be detrimental.

Although he really wanted to force himself through the pain; Cloud felt it would be the perfect reminder _not_ to let his emotions rule his responses.

No matter how natural the response would seem in an undercover mission; it wasn't professional and could lead to getting himself killed.

"Got it," Cloud mumbled as his right gloved hand encircled the small orb. He grimaced as he shifted but concentrated on the materia and the spell. The sooner he healed the sooner he could figure out where to go now.

* * *

The bar had fallen into a dead silence after Cloud had departed up the stairs. Zack had continued to glare at the stairs for a few minutes before turning his head away; a sad expression crossing his face briefly.

Barret, Jessie, Wedge and Biggs were all in stunned silence but after a few minutes and quick glances between each other they decided it was best to probably start working and leave Zack and Tifa to their thoughts; the four made their way over to a corner and began to review the map Zack had been looking over earlier.

Tifa, who had lowered her head after Cloud left and grasped her left arm in a self-conscious gesture, raised her head to look straight at Zack questioningly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked and Zack flinched almost unnoticeably.

"Tif…" Zack looked at her and then turned his head away again. "We didn't part on the best terms."

"But you let me think he died," Tifa stated, confused. "Why?"

Zack was silent and Tifa again asked why.

"…because I felt guilty," he finally said softly. "It took me a month to realize how stupid I was acting; by that time Cloud was long gone. I guess it just…I just didn't want to think about what I said and did and to be truthful…I didn't think he would've survived on his own."

Tifa frowned slightly as she asked, "You felt guilty?" Zack nodded slowly and Tifa's face hardened. "Then why did you attack him?" Zack didn't respond; he couldn't really say why himself. Was it because Cloud was the mercenary that killed Sephiroth? No, he decided. That wasn't it; that was just an excuse, something to hide behind, but he didn't know why otherwise. He just knew it wasn't because of Sephiroth.

"I see," Tifa said after two minutes of waiting for Zack to respond. She turned and started up the stairs; Zack watched her walk away and suddenly he knew why he attacked the blonde mercenary.

He had attacked because he'd gotten used to thinking Cloud was dead; now this mercenary showed up and claimed to be Cloud Strife but it wasn't Cloud, or at least it wasn't the Cloud Zack remembered. It was merely a stranger wearing his ex-best friend's face and using his name.

'_He changed,'_ Zack thought, a rather bitter smile coming to his face. _'He's colder, different; he's not the Cloud I knew. He never will be and that hurts more than I like because I __**know**__ I am one of the reasons why he's changed.'_

Yes, Zack reasoned, that was why he attacked. He didn't want to see what his actions had helped create; he never wanted to see.

He still had anyway.

* * *

End chapter.

_Wow. This actually was giving me one hell of a hard time. I ended up rewriting most of the original chapter; I did the same with the first and second chapters too, however I couldn't figure out how to end it while still keeping the characters in the way I have made them._

_Cloud in this chapter might've gotten a bit out of character but in my opinion it's rather justified. No matter how much Cloud wishes to believe that his past doesn't matter to him anymore it's still there and since he got a rather nice double douse of reality with both Tifa __**and**__ Zack being present I feel that Cloud should get a little leeway emotion wise. I'm pretty sure that if anyone had a bad past with someone, or a bad parting, and hadn't seen the other in years that there definitely will be some emotion lying around. It may not be as strong, or it may be even stronger, but it's still there._

_Besides, Cloud's just as human as the rest of us; albeit he's a fictional character but…you understand, yes?_

_Thank you though for the wonderful reviews they made my day—okay, days; thank you, especially __**FinalFantasyFan**__ for your constructive criticism. I suppose the reason why I keep saying "the blonde" or "the man" over and over again is because I feel like I __**have **__to define the character and using the name constantly tends to not sound okay to me. I thank you for pointing out my over use of "the blonde" and "the man" though as, honestly, it's just as bad as just saying the name over and over. I'll keep trying on not using descriptions such as those overly much; I think I might've used 'ex-best friend' a bit too excessively but I'm still learning and honestly I have a lot I can improve upon._

_Thank you for pointing those incidents out for me, and thank you for showing me a way I could've written it so that it sounded better/flowed better. I'll keep trying to catch myself when I do use repeats like that. So once again thank you._

_Well, I think that's all I have to address/say for now so I guess I'll be posting this._

_Review please! They really do make me happy._

_TK  
__Twin Kats_


	4. Inner Conflict

_**Beautiful Lie  
**__**Inner Conflict**_

_It's a beautiful lie;  
__It's a perfect denial;  
__Such a beautiful lie to believe in;  
__So beautiful, beautiful lie makes me—_

_**Beautiful Lie **__by 30 Seconds to Mars_

* * *

Cloud sat down on his bed heavily and gently pressed the heel of his palm against his eyes in an attempt to stop the headache that had begun building. Zack's reaction downstairs, while not unexpected, definitely could've gone a bit better. The fact that Zack had attacked him wasn't really the problem; it was that Zack had attacked while Barret was present. The big man did hire him and just as he hired him he could dismiss him as well.

Being dismissed was something he couldn't afford; Shinra wanted him to infiltrate AVALANCHE and Cloud would be damned if he failed. To him failure was not an option—in fact that word was the least used out of all of his vocabulary; he wanted it to stay that way.

As was however the blonde couldn't do damage control beyond what he had done so far and he really didn't like that.

* * *

Tifa stood just outside the door to the room she had assigned to Cloud hesitantly. She wanted to talk to him, to confirm things for herself even though Zack's reaction was confirmation enough. She wanted answers too; she wanted to know why Zack would tell her Cloud was dead.

Then again she also wasn't sure if she'd like the answers she'd get. It was obvious that the whole ordeal still affected Cloud though Tifa could tell he didn't think so.

She bit her lip; would it make things worse to talk to Cloud? Or would it make things better to speak with him?

Tifa started to raise her hand and then paused as a sudden thought crossed her mind.

_Did Cloud even remember her?_

* * *

"Hey Biggs," Zack called as he headed over to the corner the four other members of AVALANCHE had claimed, "can ya do something for me?"

Biggs nodded to Zack and said, "Sure. What do you need?"

"I need a background check on Cloud Strife," Zack told him seriously. His mako eyes became more prominent as he spoke. "I want to know where he's been and who he's been working for."

"You don't trust him?" Jessie asked with a puzzled expression. Zack nodded and Jessie continued, "You obviously know him so why don't you trust him?"

Zack hesitated slightly before biting out, "No, I don't know him. Not anymore." He turned his attention back on Biggs. "You'll get what I need, right?" he asked and Biggs gave him a nod.

"Consider it done," he replied standing. "Computer's in the same room?" he asked after a second and Zack nodded. "Right; I'll be back in a few minutes." Biggs darted around Zack and to the hidden elevator.

"Should I get rid of him?" Barret asked Zack as the man sat himself down where Biggs was.

"If his story checks he can stay," Zack replied, "but I'll be keeping an eye on him still." Barret gave a nod of acceptance and Zack changed the topic back to AVALANCHE business. "We've already trashed a few of Shinra's computers to reactor's six and three; I was thinking of going after reactor seven next to deter Shinra from realizing we're located here…."

* * *

Tifa had stayed in front of Cloud's door for five minutes before deciding to just head back downstairs; she figured Cloud would need space and she needed to think on everything herself. She had to be there just to make sure the group won't make a stupid decision, and knowing Zack they just might.

Maybe things were better this way anyway; for all she knew Cloud didn't even remember.

Yes, she decided, maybe it was better to leave the past alone; after all that was what Cloud said he did, right?

* * *

Finally having gotten rid of his headache Cloud fully relaxed against the mattress; it was a bit softer then the one in his room back at the Headquarters and he rather liked the change. He gazed at the ceiling though he didn't really see it; right now he was lost in his thoughts both trying to puzzle out how to continue without letting his past emotions interfere and attempting not to think about the past in general.

It wasn't really working, not that he could blame himself; the fantasies of Tifa being alive and Zack still his friend kept swimming back. His hopes, the little dreams he discarded as futile, now wouldn't leave him be.

It was the ringing of his cell phone that eventually dragged him away from the impossible dreams and back to reality.

Mako eyes hardened as he slid off the bed, snatched the phone, and disappeared out the window.

He had a job; nothing else mattered.

* * *

"_Someone was looking into your background; I thought you should know. They won't find anything except what we want them to so don't worry."_

* * *

Biggs returned to the group with several sheets of paper print outs in hand. He gave them to Zack wordlessly as he said, "Cloud Strife; age, twenty three; occupation, mercenary—formerly a member of Shinra's military guard; he defected at the age of seventeen. Almost a year later he began to make a name for himself as the only mercenary who would take jobs that made even the Turks flinch in disgust.

For two years he took jobs off and on from Shinra. During those years he allowed himself to be subjected to various tests, most of which included injecting him with mako; Shinra quit hiring him on the two year mark when he took a job that killed General Sephiroth of SOLDIER. He pretty much dropped of the charts after that considering Shinra put a bounty on his head. Two years later Shinra rescinded the bounty believing him to be dead.

Just this last year he started reappearing; for a while he stayed in Costa del Sol and then in North Corel. The last place he was seen was Kalm," Biggs finished. "All the details are on those papers, including what I could get on the tests he was subjected to and every job he took; he hasn't failed a single one Zack."

Zack flipped through the sheets, skimming over most of it but what he did see confirmed what Cloud had told him.

With an irritated sigh Zack tossed the papers down onto the table as he said, "He checks out; the bastard can stay," reluctantly just as Tifa descended the stairs.

"Cloud's staying?" she asked, surprised.

"His story checks out," Zack repeated. "He can stay; I'll still be keeping an eye on him though." The dark haired ex-SOLDIER looked at Tifa out of the corner of his eye as he asked, "Did you talk to him?" Tifa shook her head slightly and moved to sit down with the rest of them. "Why not?"

"You don't need to know why," Tifa told Zack calmly although her voice had a steely edge to it. "I'll tell him he's staying in the morning," she added before turning the topic to AVALANCHE. "So what did you guys decide on?"

Zack launched into an explanation of the plan, pushing away all thoughts on Cloud Strife from the past to Cloud Strife of the present. Right now AVALANCHE was all that mattered.

* * *

End chapter.

_I know this chapter is short and probably holds more explanations than I'd like but it isn't gnawing at me to rewrite the majority of it like the last three had. Now there are a few things I do want to address that are in this chapter; mostly so that I don't get tons of reviews saying 'Cloud's not twenty-three!' or something along those lines._

_The 'timeframe' this AU is in is two years after 7 would have ended if this weren't an AU. Basically it takes place during the timeframe of Advent Children. Since Cloud was twenty-one in 7 and since this is two years after when 7 would have taken place he's twenty-three. For those of you who have played Crisis Core or have researched about the game's storyline then you probably know that Zack and Cloud were captured for four years._

_Since that capture never took place and since Sephiroth wasn't tossed into a river of mako Cloud deserted Shinra at the age of seventeen since he's twenty-one in 7 and this took place four years before 7._

_That's all of the technical issues with the ages I tossed out and I sincerely hope I won't be getting any reviews pestering me about Cloud's age. This is an AU._

_That said and done I would like to, once again, thank __**FinalFantasyFan**__. That last review made me really happy and I totally agree with you on the fact that sometimes a single sentence can convey much more than an extremely long paragraph. I look forward to what you have to say for this chapter._

_Once again I wish to apologize for the length of the chapter; it is rather short however I couldn't find other things to add on for this chapter. Hopefully the next one will be longer and actually begin progressing the story further. I think I spent a bit too long on just this situation alone._

_Can't wait for the reviews; I really like hearing everyone's thoughts!_

_TK  
__Twin Kats_


	5. Ignorance

_This chapter is dedicated to __**darkemogirl**__, __**Fairheartstrife**__, and __**MtReload**__._

_**Beautiful Lie  
Ignorance**_

_Everyone is looking at me;  
__I'm running 'round in circles baby (circles baby)__  
A quite desperation is building higher;  
I've got to remember this is just a game;_

_**Beautiful Lie **__by 30 Seconds to Mars_

* * *

The next day Cloud woke up a little later than usual. Blinking the sleep from his eyes he slowly slid out of the bed grabbing the shirt hanging off one of the posts as he did so.

Within a few minutes the blonde assassin was pretty much dressed in what had become his usual attire; he decided to forgo the leather half-skirt this morning as he just didn't feel like doing up all the belts on the thing at this moment. Priority one in Cloud's mind was head downstairs and find out the verdict.

So, with his hair a mite messier then usual from sleep, his one-sleeved shirt, leather pants, and gloves Cloud opened the door to his room and headed downstairs.

* * *

The bar was closed, Tifa cooking breakfast, and Zack reading through the sheets of paper Biggs had given him the other night more thoroughly when Cloud entered the room. Within seconds he found himself sitting with a plate full of steaming pancakes sitting in front of him.

Blue eyes blinked in slight surprise.

"You'll get used to it," Zack said from beside him, eyes not once having left the pieces of paper in front of his face. "Tif likes to fatten us up; claims we're too _skinny_," Zack pulled a face at that but continued to keep reading as Tifa told him sharply.

"You _are_ too skinny Zackary Fair! Now eat!" she slammed a plate of pancakes down in front of the ex-SOLDIER who yelped slightly, pulling the papers away before they could get splashed by coffee and syrup.

"Jeez! Watch it Tif!" Zack cried and the added, "Eating!" with a squeak under the woman's glare.

Cloud watched the whole thing in thinly veiled surprise.

Zack was being _civil_.

Finally he seemed to get enough control of his vocals cords to let out a soft, "Hn," before slicing into his pancakes to appease the glaring brown eyes.

He'd also forgotten the dangerous _temper_ Tifa had.

After a few minutes of silence Tifa finished cooking and began to clean up the area before grabbing two plates of pancakes and heading up the stairs. Cloud glanced in her direction, slightly confused but deciding not to ask.

"Denzel's upstairs," Zack said, back to reading the print outs, "with Marlene. The boy's sick and Barret's girl doesn't want to leave him alone."

"Sick?" Cloud mumbled but Zack didn't elaborate. Instead the ex-SOLDIER seemed to be staring at the print-outs in a mixture of surprise and horror.

"You killed the Shinra President?" he muttered, eyes scanning the list. "And the heads of the science department? Damn."

Cloud raised his head, brow furrowed slightly. He didn't know exactly what Shinra allowed AVALANCHE to get on him, however he knew that the young President would honor their agreement and keep anything that gave away his cover hidden; failure to do so and Cloud would kill him, great money source or not.

"When was this?" Cloud asked, peering at the papers from next to Zack; he decided not to look the gift horse of Zack being civil in the mouth. It wouldn't do to antagonize him anyway.

Zack, upon Cloud's question, raised an eyebrow in response and Cloud shrugged, glancing at the dates. He nodded after a second with a muttered, "Now I remember..." at Zack's other raised eyebrow Cloud added louder, "Everything tends to blend together during the two years I worked for Shinra."

"Huh?"

With a slightly irritated sigh Cloud pulled the papers from Zack's grip, flipping through them quickly. As much as he didn't want to show this to the other man, after all it was a weakness, he _had _to infiltrate the group. Gaining Zack's trust was top priority for that to happen. If Cloud had to give out one weakness--no matter _how_ incapacitating it was--he would. Besides, one look at his medical record and the man would know the answer anyway. Keeping it secret wouldn't help him at this point in time.

He slid the papers back over to Zack, his finger tapping the page facing up. Zack looked down and blinked.

The page was a bit shocking too; Shinra let out quite a bit of that particular information to Cloud's distaste.

_'Experiments?'_ Zack thought, staring at the page, mildly surprised. _'Biggs mentioned that but I hadn't gotten a chance to look....'_ Frowning Zack began to skim the words before sucking in a breath.

"You're _mako sensitive_?" he asked, wide-eyed. He went back and began to read through the information in greater detail.

"That's why I didn't get into SOLDIER," Cloud stated, standing and clearing up his now empty plate.

"You knew you were sensitive?" Zack queried.

"Before or after the agreement to be tested on?" Cloud questioned back.

"Before."

"Yes."

"You still let them do this?"

Cloud finished washing his plate off and glanced at Zack out of the corner of his eye as he said, "Weakness is a death wish as a mercenary." Zack raised his head, surprised at Cloud's calm yet cold dismissal. Cloud didn't look back as he started to head up the stairs. Zack's voice made him pause.

"I still don't like you," the ex-SOLDIER stated.

"I didn't expect you to," Cloud replied and continued up the stairs, passing Tifa on his way.

"Zack?" Tifa asked, glancing up the stairs where Cloud had no disappeared to and back to Zack.

Zack shook his head sharply and said, "It's nothing." He asked after a second, "How's Denzel?"

"Not any better, but not any worse either," Tifa mumbled.

"We'll find a cure, Tif," Zack muttered. "We'll find a cure."

* * *

Cloud was on his way to his room when he noticed the cracked door. Cautiously he glanced inside and blinked; a young girl was sitting diligently at the bedside of a sleeping boy. One plate of pancakes sat on the table next to the girl.

The girl raised her head as Cloud made to leave and spotted him. She called out, quietly but not too quiet to not be heard, "Who are you?"

Figuring it couldn't hurt the blonde mercenary stepped into the room with a muttered, "Cloud Strife." His eyes flickered to the boy as the girl spoke.

"Oh. You're the guy daddy hired to protect Tifa," the girl nodded. "I'm Marlene." She pointed to the boy and said, "This is Denzel; he's really sick though."

"Sick?" Cloud asked, stepping closer to Marlene and the boy on the bed.

"Mhmm," Marlene nodded and watched as Cloud stopped beside the bed.

"With what?" Cloud questioned the little girl, mako blue eyes looking down at her inquisitorially.

"I don't know," Marlene shrugged. "Neither does Tifa or Mr. Zack." Cloud was slightly surprised to hear that.

"Then how do you know he is sick?"

In response Marlene pointed to the small piece of cloth on the boy's forehead. Cloud glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as he gently brushed the cloth up to see what she was getting at.

He sucked in a sharp breath a second later and pulled his hand back as if burned.

"Mr. Cloud?" Marlene asked worriedly. "Do you know what this is?"

Eye's widening and narrowing sporadically, pupils flashing between cat-like slits and normal, and trying to ignore the sudden throbbing pain in his clothed arm Cloud hissed out, "Yes," between slightly clenched teeth.

"Then you know what the cure is, right?" the girl looked up at him hopefully and Cloud, eyes still focused on the mark upon boy's forehead, said in an almost pained tone, "There is no cure."

The assassin turned on heel and left the room quickly. He didn't want to face the questions the inquisitive girl would ask, and staying there was bringing him more pain--if Marlene had looked at Denzel closely she would've noticed him flinching in his sleep too.

He almost staggered into the room Tifa had assigned him, kicking the door shut quickly and with a flick of his pain-free arm Cloud had it locked.

"_Damn it_," he hissed out with a shuddering breath and practically collapsed against the dresser as he made his way towards it. Cloud weakly pulled at the top drawer, his right hand slipping through the minuscule gap to grope blindly, eyes practically unseeing in a haze of red and green flashes.

The world tipped and turned black seconds later.

* * *

_"What does Shinra want with me?" he asked coldly, blue eyes piercing the cold and calculating gaze of the current executive._

_"You're a well sought mercenary," the President stated coolly._

_"And it has nothing to do with who I am?"_

_"The fact that you were born in Nibelheim might have some motivation..." the words were admitted, almost reluctantly._

_"What do I get out of this?" his stance was guarded; he had noticed the executive's shadows, although he couldn't pick their exact locations he could still get a general idea of where they were._

_"Is this an agreement?"_

_"It depends on what you're offering."_

_"You pride yourself on being efficient and ruthless," Shinra said, "and you fight even when weakened to better yourself."_

_"Weakness is death," he snapped._

_"Yes, I suppose it is," the other mused. "From the medical records we have of you before...your defection...you have one major weakness, no?"_

_He stiffened._

_"Ah, so you do know of what I speak," the words were calmly spoken, silken and deadly at the same time. "Our offer," he continued, "is that you allow some of our best scientists to submit you to a few...tests."_

_"I would consent to this why?" the tone was harsher now._

_"You'd be fighting your weakness of course."_

_Blue eyes narrowed, "That's not all."_

_"Correct." There was a tense silence before Shinra continued. "Any jobs you take will be filed within the Shinra Corperation," he stated. "You will be paid handsomly for your continued cooperation with the tests; we require though that you perform your jobs __**after**__ a session with our scientists. To combat the weakness, no?"_

_"If I agree I have a few conditions," his face was blank; it was a skill he found necessary rather quickly if he didn't want to get swindled._

_"Name them."_

_"I will not work with any SOLDIER--while I am a mercenary for hire I am not one of your __**dogs**__ and so will not be ordered around as such. I will consent to these 'tests'," the word was said almost sarcastically, "only after I have been told __**extensively**__ what they are and what the expected outcome is. I retain the right to __**refuse**__ any of these 'tests' if I find them not to my benifit. Finally I will only take the tests form __**sane**__ doctors and scientists."_

_"Meaning...?"_

_"Keep Hojo and anyone who works under his rule the fuck away from me."_

_Shinra eyed him up and down; the conditions were more than he would like, but this __**mercenary**__ had quickly become legend since his defection._

_"I'll agree to your terms..." he finally said, "...if you agree not to kill any of my SOLDIER's out of revenge."_

_"The past is the past, Shinra," the words were almost growled._

_"Indeed it is," Shinra murmured. His shadows shifted slightly in the thick quiet that fell, and then tensed, ready to spring forward at a moments notice as the President asked, "Do we have an accord?" coolly._

_He eyed the other up and down, assessing everything mentally. In the end this agreement could go either way, but if Shinra kept his end of the deal it would benifit him more. After all, one of his policies was that if you broke the deal you paid for it, severely._

_Finally he uttered, "We have an accord," in the same, cold tone._

_Shinra allowed a smirk to gracefully fall across his lips._

_"Good...I assume you wish to have a contract in writing?"_

_"Correct."_

_With a snap of his fingers one of his shadows stepped forward--a Turk--and calmly handed over a few documents._

_"You knew what I would demand?" the words were harsh, accusing._

_"No. I had this written as we spoke," was the softly spoken rebuttal._

_He took the papers from Shinra's pale hands after the man signed them and quickly read through the words. It was straightforward, and included everything they agreed upon. It was hand written, giving credence to Shinra's statement that it had been created as they talked although he wouldn't put it past the man to be lying. Still, everything seemed in order and so, pulling out a pen from one of his pockets he signed the document._

_**Cloud Strife**__._

_"Thank you for your services," Shinra murmured, taking the document and handing it back to the dark haired Turk. "We will contact you with the first appointment soon."_

_Cloud watched coldly as they left._

_Yes, this would benifit him much more than Shinra in the end; of that he was sure._

_

* * *

end chapter._

_Wow, that was a rather long flashback...anyway, I'm so sorry for not having finished this earlier! The original draft of this chapter just didn't sit well with me, so I ended up rewriting the first half, and then after that where I left the first half off didn't sit too well and since I was having a block on how to fix it I put it aside for a while._

_Today I picked it up at around 3AM and skimmed through it (after having started reading a FF7 fanfic titled __**Anywhere**__ which is rather well written; it brought back my passion for Cloud and Zack) and discovered that while I liked most of what I had previously written in the second draft, it needed some more editing. So I ended up almost rewriting the entire interaction with Marlene (again) before I hit the flashback._

_So yeah...I'm truly sorry it took so long. I've been so distracted lately, and it just wasn't coming to me like I wanted._

_Now on I want to get to the anonymous reviews..._

_**FinalFantasyFan **__I so love your reviews. They are very helpful! I suppose I could've done more reflection on Tifa's part and I will definitely try to remember your advice there. I was afraid I was spending too much time on the situation but I'm glad you think I wasn't._

_You mentioned though about Cloud's "need for control" and made a comment on one of my sentences. I would like to point out that your comment (in which you said adding "and he didn't like that" to the end of the sentence) that I had put in those very words at the end of the sentence. I don't know if you noticed it exactly...I know that sometimes when I read I tend to miss things sometimes because upon instinct (I suppose) I mentally reword some sentences in things I read (which makes it oh so hard to understand sometimes...)_

_I am very sorry it has taken an extremely long time for me to update (__**6**__ months, my god...) this chapter just wasn't working well as I've stated above. However I finally got it to where I wanted. I do hope you are still checking up on this story! I would hate to have lost you because I had trouble working this chapter out...for six months...._

_Again thank you; I really do appreciate your reviews. They always have some insightfull information or tidbit to help me improve._

_Pushing past the anonymous reviews I would like to mention why this chapter is dedicated to __**darkemogirl**__, __**Fairheartstrife**__, and __**MtReload**__._

_I chose these three for a few reasons. __**darkemogirl**__ and __**MtReload**__ spoke upon how they liked my portrayal of Cloud. __**Fairheartstrife**__ was chosen (not just because she is the inspiration) because she mentioned the __**inner conflict**__ going on...and that she liked the chapter so much she wanted a longer update right away XD I'm so sorry for the long wait __**Fairheartstrife**__!_

_That's everything I think...yup. That's everything._

_Tata!_

_TK  
Twin Kats_


End file.
